Merry Christmas to all of YOU and yours, if its legal here??

Topic: Merry Christmas to all of YOU and yours, if its legal here??

My fellow Friends and Kameraden

First forgive me, I know it has nothing to do with our group, but I felt I needed to share this with you. And hope many of you support your local groups that stand for the right thing. (I m not super religious or nothing like that It just makes my blood boil)

The Holidays are upon us, many of us are busy taking care of business, you know, presents, food, parties !! But please take a moment to ponder.

As a note the celebration of what we now know as Christmas, this was not a holiday until the 4th Century, the new Roman Catholic Church, knowing it would be impossible to make pagan holidays unlawful, decided to then adopt them.

You see before, before the 4th century, traditions like the yule fire that burned for about 12 days, or the x-mas fern both of norse origin, or the celebration of the Saturnalia in Rome with the exchange of gifts and the celebration of the sun god. All taking place around the 25th of December.

These were eventually adopted as the celebration of the Son of God, the Christman tree, decorated with apples, as the one in the garen of Eden and so on.

So as we see the Chirtmas season unveil this year, lets keep these in mind, for those who rather not celebrate the birth of our lord, for those who wish politically correct holidays, for those who have no concept of this holiday we must say, shame on you.

I include a very interesting article I hope you enjoy it.

In the mean time, if men in WAR can stop the battles to shake hands and share what little things they might have, if the Spanish Blue Division could share their food and celebrate the season in the worst of conditions, why not us. Even in NS Europa the season was celebrated.

Who are these poeple to say, We can not wish you A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

For her son's school "holiday party" last week, Julie West baked a
birthday cake for the baby Jesus - a gesture of defiance both against
his teachers and the growing campaign in America to remove any trace
of Christmas from public life.

Six-year-old Aaron had brought home a note from his school, in
Washington state, that asked parents to provide food that their
family traditionally enjoyed during the holiday season.

"He asked for the cake I make at Christmas with the words 'Happy
Birthday Jesus'," said Ms West. "I called the school to let them
know, but a few days later the teacher phoned back to say that I
couldn't bring the cake as the party was not a religious event."

Ms West, who attends a non-denominational church in Edmonds, near
Seattle, was amazed. "It wasn't an attempt to impose my beliefs on
anyone. It was just a cake," she said. "I think all traditions and
religions should be celebrated at this time of year."

After researching the issue on the internet she contacted the
Rutherford Institute, a mainstream pressure group that defends
religious freedom. It assured her that even though the American
constitution bans the promotion of religion by the government, simply
bringing a cake iced with "Happy Birthday Jesus" into the school
broke no laws. "So I took the cake in for the party on Tuesday and
none of the other parents or children were offended," she said. "The
only comment was how delicious it was.

"I didn't set out to make a point, but now I hope I have helped a few
other people understand their rights."

Not everyone is as robust. Across the United States, celebrations for
what many Americans now refer to as the "C word" have been all but
restricted to churches and private homes.

In Wichita, Kansas, a local newspaper ran an apology after referring
to a "Christmas tree", rather than a "community tree" at the city's
Winterfest celebration. In Denver, a Christian church float was
barred from the city's parade while Chinese lion dancers and German
folk dancers were welcomed. In parts of Florida, fir trees have been
banned this year from government-owned property.

A mayor in Massachusetts issued a formal apology to anyone offended
by a press release that mistakenly described the town of Somerville's
holiday party as a "Christmas party". Schools in Florida and New
Jersey have banned all carols and elsewhere in Washington state a
school principal banned a production of A Christmas Carol mainly
because Tiny Tim prays: "God bless us, every one."

In one New Jersey school district, where the singing of Christmas
carols has long been abandoned, officials have this year forbidden
children's orchestras to play songs such as Silent Night because that
might remind people of their Christian content.

Frosty the Snowman and Winter Wonderland have, however, been deemed
acceptable as they are devoid of any religious references.

"The majority of people in the towns think that this policy is
unnecessary," said William Calabrese, the town president (mayor) of
South Orange. "This feels like a slap in the face to diversity, not a
symbol of it. They're sterilising the school systems, taking away
freedom of choice. It's a type of totalitarianism."

The fightback, however, has begun. Showdowns are taking place across
the country as individuals, and conservative and religious groups,
come out against the zealous interpretation of the separation of
Church and state.

In Chicago, a Nativity scene has been given police protection after a
life-sized model of the infant Christ was briefly stolen before being
recovered earlier this month.

"This has been getting worse for years and people have finally had
enough," said John Whitehead, the founder of the Rutherford
Institute, which has issued its own "Twelve Rules of Christmas"
setting out people's religious rights.

"Political correctness is all-pervasive here. Christmas has become a
taboo in America but now people are fighting back."

In the Oklahoma City suburb of Mustang, voters angered by a school
board's decision to remove a Nativity scene from a school play
demonstrated their fury at the ballot box last week. They rejected
the board's plans to raise $11 million (£5.7 million) by issuing
bonds.

Many parents were particularly angry that the play still featured
Santa Claus and a Christmas tree in addition to symbols of the Jewish
festival of Hanukkah and of Kwanzaa, an African-American celebration
established in 1966 as a counter to Christmas. These were deemed
"cultural" rather than religious.

Also last week, a court challenge began in New York to overturn a
policy that allows the Jewish menorah and Islamic crescent and star
to be displayed in schools, but forbids Nativity scenes.

The Catholic League and Thomas More Law Centre are appealing against
a lower court ruling that found that the Jewish and Muslim symbols
have a secular dimension while the Nativity is "purely religious".

Organisations such as the Americans United (AU) for Separation of
Church and State believe that the campaign to put Christ back into
Christmas is being pushed by conservative Christian groups buoyed by
the victory of President George W Bush and the religious Right in
last month's elections. "They are emboldened," said Robert Boston, an
AU spokesman.

The Chicago Nativity has been at the centre of controversy since the
American Civil Liberties Union, the American Jewish Congress and the
American Atheists launched a legal challenge against its location on
public property.

Their case was thrown out because the scene was erected by a private
group. This year, at least, other expressions of religious freedom
are also being allowed in the city.

Pressure groups such as the Rutherford Institute and the Alliance
Defence Fund, which hires lawyers to fight perceived anti-Christian
bias, say that many teachers and public officials are confused about
the law and wrongly believe that any religious displays or symbols
are forbidden on government property.

Others have been cowed by a stream of complaints and are just seeking
"the easy life", according to Mr Whitehead. Retailers are
particularly sensitive to complaints. Several stores, including
Macy's, have reportedly banned their staff from referring to
Christmas in case they deter non-Christian customers, prompting a
group of angry Californians to boycott its outlets.

While President Bush's holiday greetings card, posted to a record two
million recipients this year, carries a line from Psalm 95 - "Let us
come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song"
- there is no mention of Christmas on the White House website. Even
Fox News, the conservative television network, cannot bring itself to
wish a merry Christmas to its viewers. Instead, "Happy Holidays" is
flashed up to the tune - but not the words ñ of Ding Dong Merrily on
High.

The Rutherford Institute despairs. "This is not a Left-Right,
Republican-Democrat issue," said Mr Whitehead. "It's about everyone's
right to celebrate their religious beliefs as they want. We should be
including all religions, not excluding one."

December 23rd, 2004

Kane

Things changed indeed. It's glad to see that "Happy Holidays" is being posted publicly.

December 23rd, 2004

03USMC

Nice Post. Gotta love the ACLU huh?

Feliz Navidad.

--

December 23rd, 2004

A Can of Man

You know, there really is no point hoping for peace.
There will always be conflict. Always.

December 23rd, 2004

gladius

Last Thanksgiving we had "Harvest Festival" the name was change so it wouldn't offend anyone.

What load of crap, this stuff is stuff is going too far, I for one was offended that they changed the name.

December 23rd, 2004

Charge 7

It seems in an effort to not "offend people" these people have offended more than would (possibly) have been offended if they had left it alone. Still that being said, I think alot of the meaning of Christmas has been lost before these actions to kill the use of the name. Over commercialization and having Christmas music being played and sold about the time of Halloween for starters. I say "Merry Christmas" to folks at the bank, post office, and stores etc. You should see the startled looks I get. After a moments hesitation I usually get a "Merry Christmas" back or at least a smile and "have a good day". Nobody seems offended if that's any kind of poll. One other thing I'd like to mention is something that I don't hear anybody talking about. I'm old enough to remember when Easter was the dominant Christian holiday and Christmas came second. The point being that the resurrection was more important than his birth (though the former could hardly have happened without the latter). I call that the first casualty among the demise of religious holidays.

December 24th, 2004

Chocobo_Blitzer

Quote:

Originally Posted by gladius

Last Thanksgiving we had "Harvest Festival" the name was change so it wouldn't offend anyone.

What load of crap, this stuff is stuff is going too far, I for one was offended that they changed the name.

LOL what!? How is thanksgiving offending? How is it religious? It's a federal holiday- what's up!?

December 24th, 2004

Trevor

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_13th_redneck

You know, there really is no point hoping for peace.
There will always be conflict. Always.

That's really depressing if you think that way. No one actually EXPECTS peace on earth, it's just a nice thing to think.

December 24th, 2004

Doc.S

To all IMF members a huge merry christmas from sweden, I love you all and watch up for santa and he´s raindears this evening. I have intell information that he will pass over Finland and then moving over sweden so If there is a sleed without a signal dont be alarmed, it is only santa with packages.

Peace from sweden:
Doc.S with family

December 24th, 2004

A Can of Man

I try to learn to enjoy it.
*try* to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trevor

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_13th_redneck

You know, there really is no point hoping for peace.
There will always be conflict. Always.

That's really depressing if you think that way. No one actually EXPECTS peace on earth, it's just a nice thing to think.